Ministry of Education
Union Education Minister Announces Setting up of Centre of Excellence for Indian Knowledge System at IIT Kharagpur
IIT Kharagpur has Attempted Introspecting on Spirit of India & taken Right Measure through Bharata Tirtha and Research: Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank
Education Minister Emphasizes upon Education through Mother Tongue & Rejuvenation of Sanskrit
Kolkata, November 6, 2020
The Union Education Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has announced that the Centre of Excellence for the Indian Knowledge System will be set up at IIT Kharagpur. Inaugurating the international webinar titled ‘Bharata Tirtha’ organized by IIT Kharagpur today which is going to continue till November 8, 2020, the Chief Guest of the webinar Dr. Nishank congratulated the Institute for the continued effort in various branches of the Indian Knowledge System. “IIT Kharagpur has attempted to introspect on the spirit of India, her challenges in the present times and taken the right measures through an initiative like Bharata Tirtha and research,” he stated while addressing the first session of the webinar.
The Union Minister emphasized upon education through the mother tongue along with the rejuvenation of Sanskrit to ease the educational process in tune with the diverse mother tongues surviving in different parts of the country and gather knowledge from the rich educational heritage of India. Confirming the creation of a National Education Technology Forum to support technical education, the minister motivated researchers to take forward deeper studies in Indian scientific and linguistic heritage and access the historical educational resources which are still available in the country. He remarked, “Initiatives like Study in India, GIAN, GIAN+ and other funded research programmes could be the right resources to spread this to the global students and researchers’ community.” Dr Nishank further called for excellence in research to accentuate the quality of the education system in India which has sustained its rich cultural heritage despite the turmoil over centuries.
The Guest of Honour, Union Minister of State for Education, Communication and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Sanjay Dhotre opined on the need to critically study and analyze the interdisciplinary nature of the Indian Knowledge System in the present times. “Spectacular achievements of the past can inspire us but cannot sustain us in the present. It is our responsibility to equip the Indian Knowledge System with the Indian ethos and values and attempt pursuit of excellence in every chosen field,” he added. He also hoped at National Education Policy  2020 will promote this spirit of India. The minister stated, “NEP 2020 is based not only on cognitive capacities but also on social, ethical and emotional capacities which will ensure quality education to all the students despite their geographical, economic and social position, especially for the historically marginalized and disadvantaged groups.”
Prof. Virendra K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur, expressed the need to acknowledge and incentivize research work on Indian Scientific Heritage by awarding the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize. “Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize is a dream goal for science and technology researchers in India. I would like to request our Hon'ble Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to contemplate on proposing the Union Minister for Science & Technology Dr. Harsh Vardhan to create a new vertical on Indian scientific heritage under this prestigious Prize,” he reiterated.
The three-day webinar will witness deliberations by international stalwarts pioneering in Indic studies including Arthashastra , Sanskrit for Natural Language Processing, Vedic and Ancient Indian Mathematics - Numeral System, Bijaganita and Jyamiti, Rasayana , Ayurveda , Jyotir-tatha Mahajagatika Vidya , Prakriti Vidya  and Nandana Tathya tatha Vastu Vidya .
The speakers include Shri Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Advisor, Govt. of India and Dr. Deepa Sankar, Chief of Education, UNICEF, Uzbekistan  on Arthashastra, Prof. Gérard Huet, National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation, France and Prof. Amba Kulkarni, Department of Sanskrit Studies, University of Hyderabad on Sanskrit for Natural Language Processing, Prof. Clemency Montelle, University of Canterbury, New Zealand and Prof. K. Ramasubramanian, IIT Bombay on Vedic and Ancient Indian Mathematics, Prof. B. M. Deb, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan and Prof. Samaresh Bhattacharya, Jadavpur University, Kolkata on Bharatiya Rasayan, Dr. P. Rammanohar, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore and Dr. Mitali Mukerji, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi on Ayurveda, Prof. Mayank N. Vahia, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai and Prof. Amitabha Ghosh, Former Director, IIT Kharagpur on Positional and Astronomical Sciences, Prof. Arunendu Banerjee, Visva-bharati, Santiniketan and Rabindra Bharati University and Prof. Omkarnath Mohanty, IIT Bhubaneswar on Terrestrial/ Material Ecology and Atmospheric Sciences, Dr. Shikha Jain, Director, The DRONAH Foundation, Gurgaon and Dr. Rajrani Kalra, Urban and Regional Geography Expert, California State University, San Bernardino, USA on Archaeology, Iconography and Architecture. Among the other experts are Prof. M. D. Srinivas, Chairman, Center for Policy Studies, Chennai, as the keynote speaker, Prof. Anil D. Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE and Prof. Shishir K. Dube, Former Director, IIT Kharagpur as panelists for the session on ‘WAY FORWARD for IITs in Indian Knowledge Systems’. They will be joined by faculty experts from various disciplines at IIT Kharagpur.
The organizing members include Prof Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur , Prof. S.K. Bhattacharya, Deputy Director, IIT Kharagpur , Prof. Somesh Kumar, Dean of Students’ Affairs, IIT Kharagpur , Prof. Joy Sen, Department of Architecture and Regional Planning, IIT Kharagpur , Prof. Anuradha Choudry, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kharagpur .
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